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AT&T Gears Up for the iPhone

Posted by Zonk on Thu Jun 21, 2007 03:39 PM
from the 4000-extra-hands dept.
Communications Businesses Handhelds Apple Hardware
ElvaWSJ writes "In preparation for its exclusive launch of the cellphone industry's most anticipated device, AT&T is pulling out all the stops. It is adding about 2,000 temporary employees to cope with the influx of shoppers in the first few months. And it is planning for enhanced security to control the potentially large crowds and avoid theft of the phones, which will go for a steep $499 or $599, depending on memory capacity. Some sales agents expect to see people camping outside the night before. 'Apple, which plans to start selling the phone in all of its 162 retail stores on June 29, did not disclose any plans around training or staffing for the launch. Apple will also start selling the phone online on the launch date, but AT&T will first launch only in its stores ... AT&T, which is requiring iPhone shoppers to sign up for a 2-year contract, has not yet revealed the service fees it will charge iPhone customers.'"
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[+] Apple: iPhone Doesn't Surf Fast Enough for Jobs 436 comments
ElvaWSJ writes with a link to a Wall Street Journal interview with Steve Jobs and AT&T's CEO Randall Stephenson. As you can imagine, they're pretty enthusiastic. Just the same, they address the possibility that the iPhone will slow internet access on Ma Bell's cell network. "Mr. Jobs acknowledged that the company's new iPhone won't surf the Internet as fast as he would like on the network, called "Edge," but added that the device's ability to connect to Wi-Fi hotspots would give consumers a speedier alternative for Web browsing. For his part, Mr. Stephenson said the iPhone represents a broader push by AT&T into Wi-Fi services, including, potentially, mobile Internet calling. The two men also discussed the iPod's "halo effect" and reflected on the origins of their corporate partnership."
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  • What is this "iPhone" thing you speak of, (Score:4, Funny)

    by 93,000 (150453) on Thursday June 21 2007, @03:42PM (#19599983)
    and why have I never heard of it?
  • I'm a fan boy, I'll drink the Kool-Aid and ask for seconds but WE KNOW this... Let me know when we are going to get the pricing info.
    tell me when we get the contract terms, and let me know if I can get it pre-paid.

    please give me some real info, Mr. Ramero.
    • There just isn't anything else to say about Apple's phone. The only thing surprising is how much money Apple is spending to get the constant press coverage or Slashdot type stories all over the Net.

      I got to check one out a week ago and after all the silly hype it was like "heh, yea this looks like what one would imagine a phone designed by Apple would be like". There simply isn't anything compelling about the phone. It sure as hell isn't something that would ever compel me to give up my current phone which
      • i know the feeling - and the fact that there is going to be a min of 2 year contract to get it (from a store manager) yea.. i think i will stick with my 8525 - atleast with WM5 i can write my own stuff for it without much issue
  • ... without giving money to AT&T. :-(

  • No Apple Stores, and new hire reps? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by us7892 (655683) on Thursday June 21 2007, @03:51PM (#19600159) Homepage
    Not on sale at Apple stores?

    So, the user interface is so easy, that a just-hired AT&T customer service person can't screw it up. This user interface must be the best of all time!!

  • why is service fee unknown? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by 1800maxim (702377) on Thursday June 21 2007, @03:51PM (#19600167)
    What is so special about the Apple phone that it needs "special" service fee? If it's a phone, and if it's using the same GSM spectrum in the same way as any other cellular GSM phone, it should cost the same as plans for their existing phones.

    Is data going to cost more? Again, will there be something different in the way this iPhone sends/receives data for such things as mobile internet? If not, why does it need special pricing?

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by sammy baby (14909)
      The support relationship between AT&T and Apple is different from other carriers and their phone manufacturers. Most of the time, phone support is done in-house, so if I buy a Nokia from AT&T, I'm still getting support from AT&T. The iPhones are being supported directly by Apple.

      I'm not sure exactly what the fee arrangement is between AT&T and Apple, but the support arrangement is different enough to warrant special attention.
    • ATT&T/Cingular doesn't charge flat or per-useage data rates like the other carriers do. AT&T/Cingular instead charges you for a data plan that is based on your phone. In other words, the data plan for X model of Blackberry is different than the data plan for Y model of Treo. I assume this is because they're basically charging for the different services that different devices support. Me, I like Sprint's method better. $15 flat rate for unlimited data usage, more if you want additional "Vision" servi

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by timster (32400)
      My bet: it's not subsidized so the plans will be cheaper than all their other 2-year plans. It hasn't been announced yet so that it will be big news next Wednesday.

      Not that I'd place a whole ton of money on that, mind you, but based on their current strategy of announcing last-minute improvements, it makes sense. It wouldn't make sense to hold off this long if it was going to be more expensive.

  • Steal This Phone (Score:5, Funny)

    by Nom du Keyboard (633989) on Thursday June 21 2007, @03:53PM (#19600197)
    Since the phones will only work on Cingular, and AT&T is the only seller, so they know where they all should be, would it be that easy to actually use the phone given that you managed to steal it? Truth is, if the phones can be reprogrammed that easily, then no iPhone will be safe. You'll be in more danger using one than wearing white ear buds.

    More likely, a stolen phone will be programmed to automatically take a picture of the person holding it, read their fingerprints on the touch screen, silently send out its GPS-derived position, and then use a Sony battery to burst into flames in the thief's hands and pockets!

    Seriously, if this thing doesn't have the latest security protection against theft and misuse, it's a waste of money.

  • Just a reminder... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 21 2007, @03:54PM (#19600213)
    AT&T is the same company that cooperates with the government, installing multiple [wired.com] secret rooms [homelandstupidity.us] used to filter (and store?) your Internet communications. Unfortunately, this isn't some kind of big-brother schizophrenic paranoia.. it's real.

    I'm an Apple fanboy myself, but for this reason I canceled my AT&T service and will not purchase an iPhone until they can be unlocked or subscribed with another provider.

    More here [salon.com] and here [wired.com]. If you want to watch a Frontline about the domestic survellience program, check it out here [pbs.org].

    • Re:Just a reminder... (Score:4, Informative)

      by NDPTAL85 (260093) on Thursday June 21 2007, @04:36PM (#19600839)
      You can rest assured that MANY companies work for the federal government. So unless you are prepared to give up...well pretty much every item produced by any corporation today, you really need to give it a rest.

      By the way, until the people demand that the government not do this, then its got popular support.
  • I can understand there being a ton of excitement over this thing, since it's supposed to do to cellphones what the iPod did to MP3 players.

    HOWEVER...

    The current state of cellphone service in the US is such that 90% of existing cellular users will not be able to buy this phone, because only a small handful of users will be nearing the end of their existing contracts. Furthermore, the high price of this phone is going to dissuade some people that were on the fence already. Furthermore...Cingular isn't exac

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by drinkypoo (153816)

      The current state of cellphone service in the US is such that 90% of existing cellular users will not be able to buy this phone, because only a small handful of users will be nearing the end of their existing contracts.

      A lot of the time if you want to buy a new expensive phone they will let you out of your current contract so long as it is for the purpose of signing an equivalent or more expensive contract.

      Generally speaking, the cellphone company is typically willing to take more of your money and extend

          • Re:I just don't get one thing... (Score:5, Insightful)

            by gosand (234100) on Thursday June 21 2007, @05:59PM (#19601721) Homepage
            I don't know what you do - but I feel sorry for you if you are that tethered to your digital leash.


            Really, I don't mean that as an insult, I used to be that way too... carried a cellphone and pager, was constantly "tied" to something. Then I just got away from it. I don't think I could go back. I see people with all this gear strapped to them, and I feel sorry for them. Pagers, multiple phones, blackberries, etc. I see people sending emails while driving... saw a guy the other day - while driving - talking on one phone and sending a text message on another phone.


            I think a lot of people want to seem important. Put it down. Walk away. You'll feel better. I know I sure as hell do.

            • Re:I just don't get one thing... (Score:4, Interesting)

              by frdmfghtr (603968) on Thursday June 21 2007, @06:42PM (#19602245)

              I think a lot of people want to seem important. Put it down. Walk away. You'll feel better. I know I sure as hell do.
              You are quite correct. There is a paper written by Hans Geser of the University of Zurich entitled "Towards a Sociological Theory of the Mobile Phone" [socio.ch]. In the paper (I haven't read the whole thign yet but it could be interesting) he states the following (pages 8 and 9 of the pdf version of the paper):

              3.2 Accentuated differences between socially integrated and socially marginal
              individuals
              Under traditional no-tech conditions, the difference between socially integrated and socially isolated
              individuals is levelled by the fact that even very highly integrated individuals are "lonely" during certain
              times: e.g. when they are on the move or physically distant from their kin and friends.
              Today, mobile phones allow these well-integrated people to display their social contacts even under
              such conditions of mobility and absence: standing thus out against socially isolated, marginal individu-
              als at all times and places.

              In other words, mobile phones amplify pre-existing differences in social participation and integration,
              rather than attenuating them (Puro 2002: 28).

              The reason why so much cell phone activity goes on in public may well stem from the symbolic status
              display functions associated with the availability and actual usage of this new technology: "status" not
              in the sense of higher wealth or education, but in terms of intense social integration:
              "If you are without a mobile phones it means that no one depends on you for urgent direction,
              and no one needs to get in touch with you at all times. It means you are not cutting deals, giving
              orders; in short, not get-ting around all that much." (Bautsch et. al. 2001)
              I read another article once where the trend in Japan was to have a cellphone to your ear, even if you weren't talking to anybody--it was a means of emphasizing your social status. I wish I could find that one, but in my hunt for it I came across the Geser paper.

  • iPhone Stampede (Score:3, Funny)

    by Ankou (261125) on Thursday June 21 2007, @03:59PM (#19600289)
    As a former Henrico County Citizen, I can tell you first hand that 2000 extra employees will not be enough [slashdot.org]!

  • Stupid Data Plans (Score:3, Interesting)

    by lord_sarpedon (917201) on Thursday June 21 2007, @04:02PM (#19600353)
    The iPhone is pushing in the direction that the cell phone industry should have moved a long time ago. Limitations now are not largely technological. And yet I somehow doubt that, the day of release, they will suddenly be awestruck at the recognition of their horrible, shameful pricing plans. Sure, data plans are poised to become much more main stream, but carriers will keep making arbitrary distinctions between voice and 'data' just because they can, and it will be a cold day in hell when we start paying a flat rate for unfettered wireless access as we do with the internet. Their customers are sheep. It's that that will most hinder the adoption and spread of anything iPhone-like... Perhaps when the day comes that Apple bundles a VoIP client the industry will finally feel fear...you know, some kind of competition that forces them to adopt sane policies. I refuse to pay for cell phone service until that happens.

  • 2 year contract? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by fermion (181285) on Thursday June 21 2007, @04:03PM (#19600363) Homepage Journal
    For the normal customer looking for the cheapest phone, a two year contract is often required. However, I have in the past been able to pay $50 and get a one year contract. Why do I do this? To prevent the contract hell in which one loses a phone after the first year, then has to sign another two year contract to get another phone, and so on. In any case, it saves on the insurance which would be at least $50 for the year.

    I hope that ATT is going to use this opportunity to improve it's reputation for customer service. However, I suspect that they will simply create innovative new ways to force people into contracts they don't want. I was kind of up on this iPhone thing, I don't really have a problem with ATT, but as we get closer, I don't know if ATT isn't going to return to it's scumbag roots.

    • Most carriers have pay as you go or month-to-month services as well, but they don't advertise it. Granted, you typically pay more for the phone, and often a little more for a month-to-month flat fee than a 2-year, but (at least in my mind) it's worth it to not be stuck in a contract.

  • Guys jeez, calm down about the data plans (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Yeah, the data plans will cost more than say buying a Treo on Verizon, but this is Apple you morons.

    The data will be better. The packets will be shinyer and better designed. The ICMP packets will be way hipper than the ICMP packets that Pocket PCs use. The bits themselves, individually forged and polished by the finest craftsmen in the world. In individual leather pouches.

    So yeah, it costs more. But it's worth more, because the web pages that you view with Apple are BETTER than the shitty ones that all

  • Sorry, I don't understand (Score:4, Interesting)

    by JamesRose (1062530) on Thursday June 21 2007, @04:42PM (#19600917)
    I live in the UK, and when I walk into a mobile phone shop, I get shown a selection of phones, all of which work on every tarriff (orange, o2, virgin etc.) and I look, and a nice helper comes up and explains all the features, and after a lonhg explanation I choose a phone I would like. After this, we sit down and I say how much I will use the phone, and the sales assistant will say, well, you could go for pay and go, and that means the phone will cost you £150 (average high end example) and that I can top up any time I want and the amount I top up will give me so many minutes. He will also say you can get this phone on contract, and will present me with several 1 or 2 year contracts for this phone ranging from £15-£50, and of course minutes, and off-peak minutes and data transfer provided will vary. However, what will not happen is when they ask me if I want a contract, they will never charge me for that phone, that's how it works, the phones don't cost them much to produce, and they are gaurenteed your income for 1-2 years so they don't charge for the phone, in absolute extreme cases they will charge £50 for a top end phone on a short contract. Does that really not happen in America? Or does it work the same way for everyone but Apple in America? I mean $600 on a phone where you are probably paying out $75 a month for 2 years anyway?!

    • Re:Sorry, I don't understand (Score:4, Informative)

      by Mattintosh (758112) on Friday June 22 2007, @11:20AM (#19609681)
      In the US, there are a variety of ways to shop for a phone.

      - The Mall Kiosk of Doom -
      In the hallowed halls of unfettered, unashamed, pillaging, raping commerce, there are these odd booths out in the middle of the walkway. Mind you, this isn't some backwater open-air market. This is a Shopping Mall(tm). Real Stores(tm) are located down either side of the walkway. Only scammers, con artists, and seasonal vendors use the dreaded "kiosks" that impede traffic. In the category of both "scammer" and "con artist" falls the Mall Kiosk of Doom Cellular Phone Vendor. Most malls (due to these exact vendors) now have policies that require kiosk employees to stay within their kiosk area, not roaming around bothering the passers by. But some malls don't have this limitation, and the MKDCPV will approach you, rather than waiting for you to walk unwittingly into their lair. Either way, once you're caught, your life is forfeit.

      These kiosks are always run by a specific network provider, and have all the soul to match (none at all, of course, just an IOU taped to the wall, signed by the devil himself). The drooling lackeys they employ are the new breed of "burger flippers". Every other word they say is "fuck", and also "dude". When they're not talking to customers (and even when they are) they simply repeat "fuck dude fuck dude fuck..." until you walk away. Sometimes there's one with a few more braincells, enough to replace the word "fuck" with some sort of preprogrammed message installed by the network provider they work for. They will try to get you to sign your name to the list of recipients of the IOU on the wall. This involves a multi-year contract and a phone. Sometimes the phone is free. Most of the time, they "mess up" and charge you for it, or "forget to tell you about a service fee" and charge you for it, or they're "out of stock and you'll have to buy a phone" and charge you for it. In any event, your wallet is going to be raped and pillaged (remember, you're in a Shopping Mall(tm) - all your money are belong to us!) and your soul will belong to the devil (the CEO of a cell-telecom).

      - The Network Provider Store (a.k.a. The Bowels of Hell) -
      You don't have the chance of accidental entrapment like with the Mall Kiosk of Doom, but these stores operate the same way. The help here tends to be a bit more "clueful", usually not drooling, and usually curtailing their use of "fuck" and "dude" while customers are present. Depending on the network provider, some of these guys are actually helpful. Not AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint, but the smaller carriers seem to hire genuinely helpful people. You might have a good experience here. But not if the sign out front says AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint.

      Generally, they have a lot of accessories and a decent stock of phones. They have all the plans from the vendor they represent, top to bottom. But they'll deny that you can buy a phone without a plan. And they'll deny that you can buy a plan without a phone. In the minds of these guys, plans include phones, and phones are not available separately. Period. Pay up, bitch.

      - The Faceless Web -
      All network providers have a website where you can buy a phone without having to remove your cheeto-covered ass from its resting place. They work like stripped-down versions of the network providers' stores without the salesguy sticking his nose into your butt and his hand into your wallet. Maybe it's just me, but web servers seem to be a great deal more polite than salesmen.

      - The Independent -
      These guys are a dying breed. They sell phones. They sell plans from more than one network provider. They sell network provider plan+phone packages. They make their own plan+phone packages. They'll let you trade plans with another customer or act as a proxy plan buyer to get you the phone you want. These guys would sell a guy a Treo, sign him up for an AT&T "iPhone" plan and turn around and sell the iPhone to someone that wants it, but wants a T-Mobile plan.

      And

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by capologist (310783)

      So... will we be able to use the iPhone with other carriers?

      No.

    • Re:Other Carriers (Score:4, Informative)

      by saleenS281 (859657) on Thursday June 21 2007, @03:47PM (#19600091) Homepage
      ...as with every phone before it, if it's on AT&T's network, it's GSM. That means no, you can't use it on verizon, yes, you can use it on T-Mobile.

    • Watch the demo, then comment again (Score:5, Interesting)

      by EmbeddedJanitor (597831) on Thursday June 21 2007, @04:14PM (#19600535)
      Go to http://www.apple.com/iphone/ [apple.com] then watch the launch keynote. Then try to honestly say you'd rather have that current ugly lump you call a phone. I am not a fanboy, but I realise that there is the iphone and there is the rest.

      Yes, there will be rabid KoolAid-drinking fanboys that will throw away a phone + plan bought yesterday and buy one of these. However, the fans would most likely have held off buying phones since the January announcement. There will be a lot of people who have plans that have expired or will expire in the next few months. Apple can achieve their sales goals within the normal upgrade stream.

      AT+T already has almost 60M subscribers. Apple has set a target of selling 10M iphones in 2008. They coupld probably do that within the AT+T client base without getting anyone to switch.

      From a manufacturing stand point, the last thing Apple wants is for everyone to dump their phones and buy iphone on the day of release. Manufacturing huge numbers is very difficult. With the goal of selling 10M phones in a year, almost 1M per month, they'd rather have customers roll in slowly than in one big wave. Plan lock in helps because it means that people will wait until their current plan completes (or nears completion), thus providing a smoothing effect.

        • Re:Watch the demo, then comment again (Score:5, Informative)

          by daveschroeder (516195) * on Thursday June 21 2007, @06:18PM (#19601969)
          So I should get the iPhone for $500, and dump my Samsung Blackjack, which is smaller than the iPhone

          "Smaller"?

          Blackjack = 113mm tall
          iPhone = 115mm tall
          Difference = less than 1%

          Blackjack = 59mm wide
          iPhone = 61mm wide
          Difference = less than 1%

          slimmer than the iPhone

          Wrong.

          Blackjack = 12mm
          iPhone = 11mm
          Difference = more than 1%

          lighter than the iPhone

          Blackjack = 106g
          iPhone = 135g
          Difference = 25%

          This is the only one where it makes any difference, but it's not as if 135g is heavy by any measure.

          gets 800kbps in Manhattan via 3G HSDPA

          Great. The *one* feature iPhone doesn't have that people carp about. Well, guess what? AT&T doesn't have 3G in my city and probably won't anytime soon, and definitely not within 2 years.

          And the iPhone has WiFi. Which blankets my entire campus and city. Which is much, much faster than 3G.

          (And yes, I will agree that some people "depend" on 3G, and the addition of WiFi doesn't help. I'm not one of those people on either count.)

          has a finish which is almost impossible to scratch

          Since iPhone isn't out yet, I guess we'll have to wait and see how durable it is.

          To test iPhone's durability, Thandu says, they doused it with water, dropped it on concrete and bounced it off sidewalks.

          Thandu says he took the iPhone with him on long runs, sweating all over it. "We wanted to test the limits of it."

          has a real full QWERTY keyboard

          Great. I like the keyboard on my Treo, too. But since iPhone has a keyboard when it needs one, we'll see how good it is. Is it likely to be not as nice as a tactile keyboard? Probably not. But then:

          Blackjack: 2.3", 320x240
          iPhone: 3.5", 320x480
          Difference: >50% size, 100% (!) pixels

          Not to mention all of the other features and functionality, multi-touch, the tightly integrated music, video, photo, etc., management, user interface, more than double the battery life, and so on. Of course, anyone can say they don't "need" any of these features, but to essentially call the iPhone a piece of junk is a little ignorant.

          and cost me a whole of $50.

          Congratulations. You get what you pay for. If it does the job and you like it, good for you.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by His Shadow (689816)
      Yes you are.

      Oh, and every Apple Fan bashing web traffic whore posing as a "tech journalist".

      Simple put, they want it to fail. They are tired of having every single lame attack on Apple being repulsed by reality of Apple's success. The company that was supposed to be dead 20 years ago continues to make "tech journalists" look like fools and that's a damn good thing. The invented reasons why people don't want an iPhone are now more numerous than the feature set, and most of theses asses have never so mu

    • Quote:

      Am I the only one... Who thinks this is going to flop?


      Yes, you're the only one.

      --Richard

    • Re:Am I the only one... (Score:4, Interesting)

      by businessnerd (1009815) on Thursday June 21 2007, @04:00PM (#19600295)
      No you're not the only one. But I wouldn't exactly say it's going to flop. I think it will do well, just as most other smart phones and pda's do well. Nothing overwhelming. It may seem like a flop just from the amount of hype that Apple and AT&T are trying to generate. There certainly will not be any long lines or opening day campers. There will be no fights breaking out and there will not be riots in the streets when the supply iPhones runs short. When people are in the market for a new phone, they will likely look into the iPhone. Some will bite, many won't. I can certainly see market share picking up in the next few years though.
      • That's all they need.

        The real money is in version 2.0

        Ver 1.0 is just to get a foot in the door. It didn't matter if it was wildly successful but the fact that it is, just means 2.0 will be easier (and more profitable).

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by TrippTDF (513419)
      I'll bite

      Huge Apple Fanboy that I am, I just don't think this one is going to fly- it's too pricey for personal use, and it doesn't have the features to attract the business professional. Other similar devices (like the Motorola Q) run about $200, and can integrate nicely into exchange. I just don't know who is actually going to buy these things, other than people looking for a status symbol (ok, that's going to be everyone at first).

      I think the amazing Apple marketing machine is stopping right h
    • I, for one, hope it doesn't flop. If it is successful, we might see some of the other carriers offer 3G phones in the US sooner than they otherwise might. I have an unlocked RAZR and a T-Mobile contract counting down to month to month. Success of the iPhone might push T-M into offering a competing phone like the MotoRizr Z8. Of course, they'd have to finish their 3G network too.

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